We NEED Your Help, Burner Community!

We NEED Your Help, Burner Community!

So, this is a hard post to write. We know one of the principals is Radical Self-Reliance, and we were so close. We’ve been doing okay on gaining sustainability, some months tougher than other months, but breaking even more months than not. Then, the RTC happened. Last year, we were notified they wanted to relocate some utilities from the front of 4th Street to the alley behind our lot off of Record Street. We thought there were other options that should be explored and we told RTC that. They decided to try to sue us for eminent domain, forcing us to seek legal council.

And the City happened. When we first took over what used to be the UNR boxing ring, we communicated well with the City. We asked several times for a maximum occupancy, and received no answer. New people are now working for the city, and they tell us we have to do a change of use for the Steampunk Saloon and the Ballroom. Fire officials tell us that any occupancy will require us to have a live feed water fire suppression system. Our nearest guess right now is that the sprinkler system will cost somewhere between $30,000-$50,000. That may just be to get water re-routed and permits, construction, and materials may be additional. Until this happens, we cannot have public events or have the bar open. This has cut our revenue in at least half, making it less possible for us to support ourselves. We need help.

The biggest way you can help us, is by becoming a member. Just $50/year for the Morris allows you to stay at our hostel all year long and attend many of our events free. If we have 5,000 members, it covers basic expenses and allows us to gift MORE to the Burning Man community and be less worried about making ends meet each month. We can then host MORE artists and contribute MORE art to our community!

We hope that folks who have had a meaningful experience at the Morris will help us out! We love all our members, past present and future. We love being a Burning Man community center in downtown Reno. We love offering outreach, art, classes, workshops, and homes to area artists and activists.

Here are some quick facts about the Morris:

We have close to 2,500 members, and over 1,400 of those memberships have been gifted, that’s over 50%!.

We comp any Burning Man staff person who comes to stay with us, and we heavily discount rooms for them.

Thanks for your consideration, community! We have already raised $1,000 and we haven’t even reached out to our members yet! It takes a village to create and maintain a community resource! Please help us maintain what we have built at the Mo =)